By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle
Lincoln County’s largest city asked its residents and businesses on Monday to begin conserving water in the face of deepening drought conditions and the little likelihood of rain until late September.
The city of Newport’s stage 1 curtailment notice asks its 4,600 customers to voluntarily conserve their water use.
The alert comes a little over a week after the city of Siletz placed water restrictions on its residents, becoming the first city in Lincoln County to do so since county commissioners declared and Gov. Tina Kotek designated a drought emergency earlier this month.
Lincoln County was the first county in Oregon to seek a drought declaration after the driest spring and early summer in decades.
The county has below normal precipitation, above normal temperatures, low streamflow, and soil moisture conditions and likely won’t experience rain until sometime in September. Twenty two percent of the state, including Lincoln County, is in the severe drought category according to NOAA’s national drought monitor. This summer’s drought is the fourth in the last seven years in Lincoln County.
Newport’s main water source is Big Creek reservoir, which holds roughly 380 million gallons of water. It also pulls from the Siletz River in the summer months to supplement its supply. Last month, the Newport water treatment facility produced 63.4 million gallons for its approximately 4,600 customers to use. The average resident uses about 1,000 gallons a month.
The request to limit water use came because of the recent drought declarations and Siletz’s water use restrictions, according to a city spokesperson. The Siletz River is the lowest it’s been in 130 years.
Siletz’s notice is the least restrictive water curtailment. It asked residents to only hand water gardens, flowers and shrubs while prohibiting the watering of lawns, washing cars, driveways or filling pools.
Newport is not imposing any restrictions – yet. Instead, the stage 1 curtailment notice encourages residents to limit watering lawns and plants, avoid washing vehicles and filling pools, reducing shower time and other conservation methods. A city spokesperson told Lincoln Chronicle that commercial water users were asked to also practice water conservation.
“These are not restrictions at this time, but rather a request to our community to begin implementing conservation methods if they aren’t already,” Steve Stewart, Newport assistant public works director and water treatment plant supervisor said in the city’s announcement. “We will continue to monitor conditions and water levels to assist our community throughout this drought.”
Newport’s water customers can conserve water by:
- Limiting watering lawns and plants. If necessary, water during cool hours of the early morning or evening;
- Sweeping impervious surfaces, such as patios and driveways, instead of hosing them down with water;
- Delaying filling and draining pools, hot tubs and fountains;
- Installing water-efficient faucet aerators, showerheads and toilets;
- Reducing shower time;
- Waiting to run the dishwasher or laundry machine until there are full loads;
- Monitoring water bills for signs of unusually high water use;
- Checking indoor fixtures for drips and signs of water damage; and
- Checking irrigation systems for leaks and repairing them promptly.
Newport’s notice is a Stage 1 alert, which was last issued in 2023. The city has never issued above a Stage 2 alert, according to the city’s news release.
A Stage 2 alert involves a mandatory reduction in water consumption, restricting irrigation to certain hours on specified days, prohibits outdoor washing of equipment and vehicles, and requires high-volume customers such as restaurants and hotels to post notices about mandatory conservation measures.
- Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org
